Helfahrt: Drifa

Black/Pagan/Folk Metal

Rating: 2.0/5.0

Helfahrt's third album Drifa is a perfect example of what is wrong with black and/or native/pagan metal. While wishing to integrate Germanic pagan and folk roots, Helfahrt resorts to growling dirty vocals to deliver somewhat interesting metal. Actually, there is some good music here: large amounts of thrash and power metal with subtle tones of folk stock, and even a rock sensibility. But the music is overshadowed, even destroyed, by Max's Marquardt's death vocals. Sorry, but I can't abide trendy mediocrity.

There's much going on here between the heaviness and melodic tones that inform songs like Wind, Wenn Katte warmt (some creativity here) or Auf dem Strome. Nevertheless, it's basic pagan/death/black/etc metal stuff. If Helfahrt would lose the death metal vocals for something more melodic, they might thrill me and confound they're contemporaries. Otherwise, the English pronunciation of their name fits this work: Helfahrt would be pronounced 'Hell Fart' in English, like an explosive and disgusting beer fart flaming from your ass. Now that's entertainment. Avoid unless you're a diehard fan of black/pagan metal. (And the album art is terrible, too.)

In Short

Helfahrt's Drifa is basic pagan/death/black/etc metal stuff. If Helfahrt would lose the death metal vocals for something more melodic (like that will happen), they might thrill me and confound they're contemporaries. Music good! Vocals bad!

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